Xilica Case Study

PACIFIC INTERNATIONAL LINES

Engaging town hall meetings that make all employees feel connected, without the concerns of traditional audio setups.

SOLUTION BENEFITS

• Modern hybrid collaboration spaces that bridge the gap between physical and virtual, offering intelligibility for all participants.
• Xilica HearClear AEC to eliminate noise and interference in presentations and pitches.
• Deep integration with the Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2, that delivers voice-lift functionality and seamless setup.

Incorporated in 1967, Pacific International Lines (PIL) is among the world’s top container shipping lines and the largest homegrown carrier in Southeast Asia. Based in Singapore, PIL has evolved into a global carrier with a presence on four continents. As part of its mission to build connections between businesses and the markets they serve, PIL hosts annual partner and frequent town hall events at its Singapore headquarters. To accommodate remote attendees, PIL recently launched a modernization initiative to enable hybrid events within their collaboration rooms.

Challenge

PIL reached out to a Xilica partner to improve AV and IT operations inside a divisible training room and large corporate board room. The training room, used for its annual global partner event, smaller group trainings and town hall events, required an audio solution that could flexibly switch between one, two and four spaces to serve individual events, and improve audio intelligibility. The latter was critical, as the challenging acoustical environment includes four glass walls that were trigging intense voice reverberations. Inside the board room where weekly corporate meetings occur, PIL required a premium audio solution to cancel nearby noises and audio feedback that routinely disrupted presentations. PIL also wanted to establish a cleaner AV environment inside the room, which required slimming down the technology and cabling infrastructure.

Solution

Xilica Solaro FR1 DSP units were specified in each space to address the exacting requirements for hybrid meeting enablement, audio intelligibility, streamlined connectivity, and flexible audio distribution. Solaro XC-SUB USB audio cards were added to the Solaro FR1’s modular architecture, which enables volume and mute synchronization with Microsoft Teams to offer easy BYOD connection and control through standard laptop devices.

The installation includes Sennheiser TeamConnect Ceiling 2 beamforming microphones with TruVoicelift functionality. Working in tandem with Xilica’s proprietary signal processing algorithms and HearClear Acoustic Echo Cancellation, the complete room audio solution provides exceptional voice intelligibility, noise reduction, and audio clarity, and reduces cabling to a single category cable to remove infrastructure from sightlines inside each space. 

Impact

Customer feedback has confirmed Xilica’s room audio solutions have eliminated the voice reverberations and meeting interruptions that long hindered comprehension for in-room participants. Additionally, Xilica’s smooth interoperability with Microsoft Teams has established a foundation for hybrid events with physical and remote attendees are equal participants.

“Xilica’s DSP stands apart from competitive solutions by enabling users to address the unique characteristics of each space,” said Frederick Ng, Assistant Sales Manager, Pave System (Pte) Ltd, the Xilica partner responsible for installation. “After initial DSP programming, which itself is very simple, Xilica’s technology can be applied to tune the room and automatically adjust to each environment. That allowed us to overcome several highly challenging audio issues, such as the presenter’s voice bouncing off glass walls and other hard surfaces. Solaro DSPs are also very easy to adjust on the fly, so if PIL’s IT department needs to reduce gain or adjust AEC, they can do it without our consultation. Xilica make it all very simple.”

As Xilica’s thoughtful design all but eliminates maintenance, PIL is assured reliable room audio solutions that produce minimal heat, eliminate unnecessary connections, and allow for future scalability.

Products used for this solution